This is What Family Feels Like
by Sealure
Summary: Ethan has a nightmare. Can Melissa, Isaac, Star Trek, and hot chocolate help him out? Family feels, NO SLASH


**Hey! So, Teen Wolf is my new guilty pleasure-this show is amazing! I could do with a little less lovey-dovey romance stuff, but oh well.**

 **SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen season three, or if you don't know what the Alpha Pack is, DON'T READ!**

 **So, this takes place after season three, when the Darach has been defeated and the twins have joined the pack. I know they're not Alphas anymore, and I don't think I called them Alphas anywhere in here, but I could be wrong. I don't have a beta (reader, not wolf=) so any and all mistakes are mine and mine alone.**

 **This one is rated T because of blood. Not a whole lot, but I'm paranoid anyway, so yeah. Um, I think that's the only warning that needs to go on this one.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf. (If I did, most of the dead people would still be alive, and Isaac would walk around encased in hugs and Bubble Wrap for the rest of his life.)**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

 _Deucalion's claws were hovering by Aiden's neck._

" _Your fault, pup," he purred, mutilated eyes glowing ruby. "You thought you could stand against me? Thought you could change who you really are? You're a killer, Ethan."_

 _Heart pounding, Ethan shook his head. "No," he whispered. "I'm not, I'm not a killer."_

" _You are, and you know it," Deucalion growled. "You always have been, and you always will be. You can't change your nature. You thought you could be different? That this McCall pack could be any better than us?"_

" _T-They saved us," Ethan stammered. "They gave us a new life, a second chance!"_

" _And how long do you think that's going to last?" taunted the Alpha. "How long before they find out just how damaged you really are? You thought they could actually care? You. Thought._ _ **Wrong**_ _."_

 _And Deucalion's claws ripped Aiden's throat out._

 _Ethan screamed—_

-and bolted upright, gasping for breath. The sheets tangled around his waist, and he couldn't think, couldn't breathe, it was all his fault, _oh god Aiden_ —

" _Ethan!"_ The voice was a commanding roar. He jerked backwards, scrabbling at the headboard. He knew his eyes were glowing, and he could feel his fangs scraping his lower lip.

"Ethan, calm down," the voice ordered calmly. The twin saw a hand start to move towards him, and he snarled, lashing out with his claws. He made contact, ripping deep, bloody gouges in the arms and chest of whoever was in the room with him.

A pained cry came from his victim, hands snapping up to grab Ethan's shoulders, and Ethan heard a concerned shout from behind them. " _Isaac!_ "

 _Isaac?_

Curly hair, crystal eyes, loyalty, forgiveness.

 _I know that name…._

The other boy twisted around—as well as he could with Ethan's claws still embedded in his chest—and shouted, "Stay _back,_ Melissa!"

Ethan blinked, feeling his mind start to clear. Melissa. Sparkling dark eyes and a warm smile. Kindness. Healer.

"Ethan." The boy in front of him tightened his grip on his shoulders. "Breathe. You're hyperventilating."

Ethan realized he was indeed gasping for air. His shoulders heaved, making his claws dig deeper as he desperately tried to calm down. The other boy— _Isaac?—_ hissed in pain, but didn't shove him away.

"You need to take a deep breath," Isaac said, sounding strained himself for a moment before his voice smoothed again. "Can you hear my breathing?"

Ethan listened. He could hear the steady sound of air whooshing in and out of the other's chest, but it had a strange, gurgling quality to it. He nodded, beginning to feel light-headed.

"Good. Match your breaths to mine. Listen to my heartbeat, and just breathe. You're at Scott McCall's house. You and Aiden have been living here for a week and a half. You're safe here, I promise. Aiden spent the night with Lydia last night, but he'll be home before lunch. You're safe, and Aiden's safe, alright? Can you hear me?"

The other boy's voice was as steady as his heartbeat, and Ethan felt his confusion fade away. He took in a deep, shuddering breath and opened his eyes, not really sure when he'd closed them. He looked around the room, blinking.

The walls were a royal blue color, and there were two twin beds. He was on one, while the other was neatly made up with no sign of anyone sleeping there recently. There was a beautiful woman standing in the doorway— _Melissa—_ with her hands over her mouth. She looked very worried, and just a little bit afraid.

"Hey. You with me?" The hands on his shoulders shook him lightly. He faced forwards, and then his eyes widened in shock and he cursed. Because Isaac Lahey was kneeling in front of him on the floor, and Ethan's claws were buried in his chest.

"Oh, God," he whispered, feeling panic begin to worm its way down his back. "Oh, God."

"I'm fine," Isaac said, voice strained again, "but I think I'd be better if you could pull those out." His hands were shaking.

"Yeah, yeah, ok." Ethan carefully pulled them from Isaac's chest. The younger boy groaned softly and slumped forwards. Ethan caught him by his shoulders, then cursed again as he found more bloody wounds both there and on his upper arms. He dimly remembered frantically slashing at whatever was closest in a panic-induced frenzy.

"You alright?" Isaac asked, one hand pressing against his chest.

"Am I—"Ethan gaped at him. "You've got more puncture wounds punched through your chest than I can count on both hands, and you're asking if I'm alright?!"

Melissa laughed softly, coming over from the doorway. "That's how he is," she said with a fondly exasperated look at Isaac. He flushed, and looked down. She shook her head softly, then knelt in front of him. She carefully examined the gouges.

"Looks like they're already starting to close," she said. She pinned Isaac with a sharp look. "If they stop, you come and get me, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said softly.

Melissa turned around and pinned Ethan with the same look. "If those wounds stop healing, you come and get me, you hear?"

Ethan gulped. "Yes, ma'am!" he said.

She nodded once. "Good." She ran a hand through Isaac's curls, and gently rested a hand on Ethan's shoulder, then left the room.

Isaac leaned back against the wall with a muffled groan. "Dude," he said, "next time, I think I'll just let you deal with the nightmare."

Ethan glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 1:56 AM. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Don't sweat it," Isaac waved a dismissive hand. "I wasn't asleep anyway." He shifted positions, then hissed quietly. "Could you help me get this off?" He tugged at the hem of his t-shirt. "Don't worry about keeping it all in one piece—it's done for."

"Sorry," Ethan muttered again, kneeling on the floor and cutting Isaac's shirt off. Without the covering, his wounds looked much worse. Guilt crashed into him.

"Dude," Isaac offered a lopsided grin. "I told you, it's fine. I'm healing normally, and I didn't like this shirt anyway. Chill."

Ethan swallowed hard, nodding unsteadily.

"So, what were you dreaming about?" Isaac asked quietly.

Ethan's head jerked up.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Isaac said, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. "But if you wanna talk, I don't have anything better to do."

Ethan felt one corner of his mouth tilt up. The other Beta wasn't going to make a huge, emotional deal out of it. He wasn't going to force any answers. He was perfectly content to sit on the floor, bleeding from wounds that Ethan had caused, and just stay with him.

"Just some bad what-ifs," Ethan said softly.

Isaac shot him an understanding look. "What if Deucalion got your brother?"

Ethan blinked, startled. "How—"

"—did I know that?" Isaac finished. "I get those, too. What if he'd gotten Scott? Or Derek? Or Er—Allison, Lydia, or Stiles? What if he'd gone after Melissa?"

He was doing his best to look casual, but Ethan had heard his heart stutter when he almost said a different name. One that Ethan was pretty sure he knew. "Erica?" he asked, looking at the other Beta out of the corner of his eyes.

Isaac stiffened. "Yeah," he said after a beat. "I just keep forgetting that she's gone. Boyd and I talk—"His face abruptly paled. "Boyd and I _used to_ talk about her. Our favorite memories with her, our favorite things about her. But now he's gone, too."

Ethan remembered holding Derek's arms as Kali impaled the dark skinned boy on his own Alpha's claws. He remembered the shattered look of grief-stricken horror on Hale's face. And he remembered how Isaac had screamed, and thrown himself at Kali with suicidal fury, tears pooling in his burning golden eyes….

 _Derek lunged for him desperately, and dragged the screaming, sobbing, fighting boy into his arms and refused to let go. As the Alphas left the building, the twins exchanged looks. They hung back, lingering by the door. The broken wolves on the floor didn't seem to notice. The younger wolf dragged himself over to the corpse on the floor and started shaking his shoulders._

" _Come on, Boyd," he said. "Come on, don't you dare. Don't you dare die on me. Wake up. Come on, wake up! Don't you leave like she did. You promised! You promised…" he broke down, ragged sobs punching out of him as he clung to the body in his arms._

" _Isaac," Derek staggered over and collapsed beside the younger, dropping a hand on his shoulder. "Isaac he's—"the Alpha's voice broke. "He's gone, Isaac."_

" _No! No, he can't be! Not him too, please no!"_

" _Isaac…."_

 _And then something happened that neither of the Alphas expected. Derek Hale began to weep. He pulled the kid into his arms and they wept together, mourning one of their own. Isaac clung to him desperately._

" _He promised….." the kid whimpered._

" _I know," Derek choked._

" _They're gone."_

" _I know."_

" _Am I gonna lose you next?"_

 _The Alpha's arms tightened around the boy with a strength that would have broken a normal human's bones. "Never," he rasped out. "I couldn't save them, and I am so, so sorry, pup. But you still have me, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."_

" _They left," Isaac murmured. "Before they got caught. They left me."_

" _You could have gone with them," Derek said, even as he shuddered at the idea. If Isaac had gone with them, he would have lost all of them._

" _I couldn't," Isaac said. "I couldn't leave you. They promised me, but I promised you. They broke their promise, Derek."_

 _Derek closed his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. "They didn't mean to," he said. "They didn't want to."_

" _I know," Isaac whimpered. He curled closer to the Alpha. "But now they're gone. We're all that's left."_

 _Derek just tightened his grip, resting his chin on the top of Isaac's head._

" _You said you weren't planning on leaving," Isaac said softly. "But what if you don't have a choice?"_

 _Derek was silent for a long moment. "I will fight with all I have to stay with you, pup," he said quietly. "But you're right. I may not have the choice. If I don't, just promise me that you won't do anything stupid, like go on a revenge spree or something."_

 _Isaac let out a strangled laugh. "I can promise I'll try."_

" _Good enough for me," murmured the Alpha. He started running his fingers through Isaac's curls._

" _I'll fight to stay with you, too," Isaac whispered._

" _You might have some trouble with that," Derek laughed bitterly. "Everyone around me tends to die."_

 _Isaac snorted. "Join the club. I figure if everyone around both of us dies and we stay together, we should cancel out each other's death-causing tendencies."_

 _Derek rolled his eyes. "Well, here's hoping."_

 _Isaac smiled, but then his slender shoulders started shaking again. "I want them back," he whispered, his fingers twisting in Derek's shirt._

" _So do I."_

"Ethan?! _Ethan!"_

Ethan blinked. Isaac was halfway off the floor, staring at him. "Sorry, what?"

"You ok?" Concern filled the younger Beta's crystal blue eyes.

"Yeah, sorry. Kinda zoned out a little."

"I noticed," Isaac deadpanned. Then he ruined the effect by shooting Ethan a lopsided smile and saying, "You've got the attention span of a Stiles, my friend."

Ethan's eyes widened. "Hey!"

"Sorry, not sorry," Isaac grinned, and Ethan shook his head, unable to deny the full smile spreading across his face.

"Alright, you two supernatural teenage boys," Melissa said from the doorway, hands on her hips and a fond smile on her face. "I was just going to let you decide when to go back to bed, but I think I'm going to intervene here. We are going to go downstairs, you two are going to crash on the couch and watch old episodes of _Star Trek_ , and I am going to go make you hot chocolate. Tomorrow is a Saturday, so thank you Ethan for being so much more considerate with your nightmare timing. Unlike some people," she aimed a mock-glare at Isaac, "who decide to have them at three AM on Monday mornings."

Isaac blushed. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"Oh, hush, you know I don't mean a word of it," Melissa dropped a kiss on top of his head and checked his chest and arms again. Her brows furrowed. "Isaac, these still aren't done. Shouldn't they be gone by now?"

"Ethan isn't an Alpha anymore, but he's still a higher ranking Beta than me," Isaac explained.

Melissa frowned. "But you were the first Beta to join Scott. Wouldn't that promote you, for lack of a better word?"

"In the pack hierarchy, yes. But power wise, he's still a lot stronger than me, so the cuts are going to take a little longer to heal." Isaac smiled at her shyly. "It's ok, I promise."

Melissa smoothed his hair back. "Ok. You alright?" She met Ethan's eyes with her kind, concerned ones.

Ethan smiled at her. He glanced at Isaac. "I think I know why Scott's the best one out of all of us now," he said.

Isaac's eyes sparkled.

"Why's that?" Melissa asked.

"Because of you," Ethan told her.

She gaped at him.

"It's true," Isaac said. "I mean, think about it. Scott's a True Alpha. Do you have any idea how rare that is? You achieve it through strength of character and sheer willpower. None of us could do it, but he could. And while I think a lot of that is just who Scott is, I also know he would not be who he is today without you. So you have inadvertently saved the lives of everyone in Beacon Hills by just being yourself, and raising an awesome kid in an awesome way."

Melissa blinked furiously. She kissed Isaac's forehead, then turned around and enveloped Ethan in her warm, loving embrace. He stared at Isaac over her shoulder with a 'what do I do?' look.

Isaac snickered quietly, and mimed hugging her back. Ethan slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around Melissa. She pulled back and planted a kiss on his forehead, said, "Hot chocolate. Right." And all but fled from the room.

Isaac huffed a soft laugh and shook his head. "That's also where Scott gets his modesty from."

"Yeah," Ethan said, staring after her.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Isaac said wistfully.

Ethan looked back at him. Isaac was watching him with an understanding look. "What?" asked the older Beta.

"To be loved like that," Isaac whispered. "No strings attached, no favors required. Just to be loved, wholeheartedly and unconditionally."

"Yeah," Ethan said after a beat, because it really, really did.

He stood and started towards the door.

"Um, a little help here?" Isaac raised one hand.

"Crap, yeah, I'm sorry," Ethan shook his head sharply as he hurried back over and pulled Isaac up. As soon as he was on his feet, the younger Beta doubled over with a groan, his breaths coming in gurgling rasps as his hands pressed against the wounds in his shoulders and chest.

"Isaac?!" Ethan was panicking.

"Dude," Isaac groaned, leaning on the twin to stay upright, "chill. Lung will be done in a sec."

"Ok, ok." Ethan grabbed his shoulders and held him up until his breathing steadied.

"Oh, that's better," Isaac straightened. He took a deep breath, and shot another grin at Ethan. "See? I'm a 100%. No damage done."

"Except to your shirt," Ethan pointed out. "And your chest. And your lungs. And the wall," he winced on the last one. Isaac turned around. Sure enough, there was an impressively large bloodstain on the wall where Isaac has slid to the floor.

"Oh." Isaac said.

""Oh"?" Ethan said incredulously. "That stain is about as tall as you, and all you've got is 'oh'?!"

"Well, yeah," Isaac blinked. "Me and Scott have almost bled out in just about every room in the house. We are experts at getting rid of the stains at this point. It's kind of an occupational hazard."

Ethan shook his head. "And Melissa's ok with this?"

Isaac grinned. "As long as we're alive and we clean up our messes, she doesn't really care. Besides, if all else fails, we just repaint the wall." He cringed. "Then the whole room, because we bought the wrong shade last time, and let's be honest here. None of us are artists except for Lydia."

"Amen to that!" Melissa shouted from downstairs. "Now get down here! Cocoa's done, and the movie's already set up."

A warm light lit up Isaac's face. "Yes, ma'am!" he called back. He looked at Ethan, that quiet happiness still in his eyes. "Shall we?"

"Do we have any choice?" Ethan retorted.

"Nope!" Isaac said cheerfully. He took a step and nearly fell over. Ethan rolled his eyes. Then grabbed Isaac's arm and slung it over his shoulders, half-carrying the younger wolf down the stairs into the living room. He settled him on the couch, then flopped down next to him as Melissa brought out the cocoa and popcorn. She had a blanket over each shoulder.

"I know you guys don't get cold," she said, carefully tucking both of them in, "but there's just something comforting about being wrapped up in a soft, warm blanket."

"Thanks, Mrs. McCall," Isaac blushed.

Melissa smiled at him. "You're welcome, kiddo," she said quietly, kissing his forehead. "No more bad dreams, you hear?"

Isaac gave her a mock salute. "Aye, aye, captain!"

She laughed, then turned to Ethan. "You either, young man." She put her hands on her hips.

"Duly noted," Ethan said hastily.

"Alright then," Melissa turned off the lights and walked to the stairs. "Goodnight, boys," she said softly.

"Goodnight, Mrs. McCall," Ethan murmured.

"'Night, Mo—Melissa," Isaac said, just as quiet.

With a final whisper of "Sweet dreams," Melissa headed up the stairs, and Isaac clicked 'play.' For the next hour and a half, they watched terrible acting and cringe-worthy CG.

It was hilarious, and Ethan found himself feeling more at home in those few short minutes, on the McCall sofa with Isaac Lahey, than he had in _years_ as a part of the Alpha Pack.

When the video ended, he glanced over to see Isaac asleep, curled up against Ethan with his head on the older wolf's shoulder. Ethan stared at him for a minute. This boy had no reason to be kind to him. If anything, Isaac had more than one reason to absolutely despise him, even kill him. Instead, he woke him up from nightmares and trusted Ethan enough to fall asleep on his shoulder. The Alpha felt a tiny smile pull at the corner of his mouth as he ruffled Isaac's messy curls and the younger wolf grumbled an incoherent protest, halfheartedly poking his stomach.

Ethan's smile widened. He knew the Alpha pack had never really been a family. They'd protected each other, sure, but it was all just for their own personal interests. The McCall pack didn't work that way. They protected each other because they cared, because each and every pack member _mattered_. They laughed and joked and helped each other with homework. They took turns doing the chores, and yeah, they fought with each other too. But it was never cruel, and they never tried to hurt each other on purpose. They really, legitimately loved each other.

And sitting on Scott McCall's couch at one o'clock in the morning, with Isaac Lahey asleep on his shoulder, Ethan decided that this?

This is what family feels like.

 **There we go! First Teen Wolf fic so far, so be nice in the reviews. Constructive criticism definitely welcome, but no flames! I will use them to roast marshmallows then put them out! Um, let me know if you liked it, if you didn't that's fine, I still want to know. If you have any ideas that you want me to write, PM me, and I'll see what I can do! Till next time!**

 **~~Sealure~~**


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